Collar-fastener.



Patented luly 9, 190|. C A BROTHERS v COLLAR FASTENER.

(ApplicnmcurlVA led Dec. 31, 1909..)

(No Mudel.)

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UNrTED 'STATES nPATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. BROTHERS, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

COLLAR-FASTENER.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,331, dated July 9, 1901.

Application filed December 3l, 1900. Serial No. 41,663. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern: f

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. BROTHERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Securing Devices for Collars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to harness, and more casually disconnected and instantly disengage said securing device.

The preferred construction which may be adopted in materializing my invention will be fully set forth in the following-specifica- .tion and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention complete applied to use upon the free ends of an ordinary horse-collar. Fig. 2 is a perspective detail showing a slightly-modified construction from that presented in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail showing a longitudinal central section of Fig. 2.

In order to conveniently designate the several features of my invention and their coperating elements, numerals will be employed, of which 1 indicates the upper ends of a horsecollar of the usual or any preferred construction, provided, as is common, with the over- Y lapping iiap or lip section 2, formed of a stiff piece of leather or other suitable material and designed to protect the neck of the animal, as is obvious. In order to secure the free ends of the collar thus or otherwise provided, I at- Ytach in some permanent suitable manner to one end of the collar the plate 3,-preferably held in position by a line of stitching passing around suitable apertures provided in the edge thereof or more permanently anchored in place by suitable rivets 4, extending through the contiguous part of the end of the collar, as will be readily understood.

Rigidly secured to the anchoring-plate 3 1 are the staples or keepers 5, and designed to cooperate with said staples is the securingplate 6, which is preferably convex upon its outer surface in order that the contour of the outer surface of the collar may be continued thereby. The plate 6 is preferably bent upon itself at one edge to receive the rod 7, it being understood that the edge may be entirely cut away at one or more intervals to provide a seat for the hinges or anchoring members 8, which latter may be formed of leather or other suitable material and secured directly to a contiguous part of the opposite end of the collar from that end carrying the plate 3, said hinges being held in place by suitable rivets 9 or other preferred means.

By the arrangementj ust described it is obvious that the plate 6 will be hinged to one end ofthe collar and is provided with apertures 10, of proper size to freely receive the staples 5, and it is clear that when the plate 6 is lowered down into a position parallel with the collar the staples 5 will protrude through the apertures 10, when they may be engaged by the strap 11, which latter is properly secured in position by being extended under one end of the plate 3 and engaged by one of the rivets 4. The length of the staples 5, it will be understood, should be sufticient to enable a strap 1l of the requisite degree of thickness to be entered into engagement therewith in order to insure that the staples cannot be withdrawn from the apertures 10 until the strap 11 has been removed. It will be understood that the staples 5 and the apertures 10 may be increased in number as desired, thereby enabling a securing deviceof great power to b'e provided at a minimum cost of time and labor. If it should become desirable to reinforce rigidity and strength of the strap 11, this may be readily accomplised by providing the reinforcing-plate 12 and secure ing the same at a proper point upon the strap 11, as by the rivets 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The plate 12 is of proper length to reach from the outer edge of one of the staples 5 to the outer edge of the other staple,

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the extreme end of the plate being bent upward, so that the edge thereof will stand flush with the upper surface of the contiguous staple, as indicated by the numeral 14. It will be understood that the plate 12 shall be made of some suitable iexible sheet metal, which will permit the strap to be readily withdrawn from or entered into engagement with the staples, or said plate 12 may be severed at its middle portion in order to provide a greater degree of iiexibility. By thus bending the ends of the plate l2 upward the strap will be held against casual displacement, though it may be freely withdrawn by pressing downward upon the plate 12 sufficiently to enable the extended end of the plate to pass under the staple. It' deemed desirable, a spring-tongue 15 may also be provided to engage the free end of the strap 1l, and thus hold the same upward, so that the upwardlyextending edge 14. of the plate 12 will not pass under the staple 5, and thus release the strap,until said spring is bent downward by a slight pressure upon a portion of the strap immediately above the same.

My invention may be made in the simple manner indicated in Fig. 1, or the strap may be provided with the protecting-plate 12, as preferred.

I also desire to reserve the right to provide the tongue 15 or entirely omit the same, as deemed most desirable, it being understood that said tongue may be easily and cheaply struck up from the material forming the -plate 6 or consist of a suitable spring properly attached to the plate, as desired.

Vhile I have described the preferred construction and combination of parts, it will be understood that l desire to comprehend in this application all substantial equivalents and substitutes that may be considered to properly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described the construction and manner of using mysecuring device, further reference to the details is deemed unnecessary.

VVhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The herein-described securing device for horse-collars or the like comprising an anchoring-plate 3 secured to one end of the collar and having upwardly-extending staples 5; a plate 6 hinged to the opposite end of the collar and provided with apertures adapted to receive said staples and also having a spring-tongue 15, and a strap adapted to extend through the staples as they protrude through said apertures whereby the free end of the strap will rest above said spring, thus insuring that the staples will be locked against withdrawal until the strap is removed, all substantially as specified and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described securing device for collars comprising the plate 6 convex upon its upper surface and provided with a plurality of apertures and also with a spring 15; suitable means to connect said plate to one end of the collar; an anchoring-plate 3 connected to the opposite end of the collar and having permanently connected thereto .the staples 5; a flexible member 11 adapted to engage said staples, and an anti-wearplate 1 2 connected to said flexible member and having upturned ends 1I connected to the lieXible member and adapted to afford a seat for the staples whereby they will not contact directly with said flexible member when in its operative position, all substantially as specified and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence ot' two witnesses.

CHARLES A. BROTHERS. Witnesses:

SELDEN N. Posr, D. R. JOHNSTON. 

